The invention relates to an accelerator pedal for a motor vehicle. The motor vehicle may in particular having an automatic transmission. The pedal includes a pedal arm which is mounted so as to be pivotable about a pivot axis in its one end region and has, in its other end region, a pedal plate to which force can be applied by the driver of the motor vehicle, the pedal arm being capable of pivoting out of a position of rest counter to a spring force into a full throttle position through the application of force of the pedal plate, and when an additional force threshold of a kick-down switch is overcome by activating the kick-down switch it can be pivoted on into an absolute end position in which a signal can be generated by the kick-down switch and can be fed to control electronics.
With such an accelerator pedal it is known that the pedal arm comes into abutment against a tappet of the kick-down switch when the full throttle position is reached, and correspondingly axially displaces the tappet into the absolute end position during the further movement. A plurality of latching recesses, into which radially guided latching balls project with part of their circumference are formed on the radially circumferential outer face of the tappet, said latching balls being loaded into the latching recesses by springs and being moved out of the latching recesses by the further movement of the pedal arm and in the process overcoming the force threshold with which the latching balls are loaded into the latching recesses. A signal is then triggered in the absolute end position as a result of two electrical contacts being bridged.
This embodiment is not only costly in terms of components but also leads with time to wear on the latching balls and latching recesses, as a result of which in turn the force threshold to be overcome changes during the activation of the kick-down switch.